The September 12, 1953 nuptials of Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis (née Bouvier) to then US senator John F. Kennedy lives on in historical past as a homegrown fairy story (or de facto royal) marriage ceremony, all the way down to Jackie Kennedy’s marriage ceremony costume made by African American couturier Ann Lowe.
Life journal despatched photographer Lisa Larsen to doc the occasion for a narrative detailing the scene the place “600 diplomats, senators, and social figures” attended the Newport, Rhode Island, ceremony presided over by the Archbishop of Boston. (Pope Pius XII even despatched a particular blessing.) “Outdoors, 2,000 society followers” hailed the newlyweds, who would later shake arms with 900 reception company. “The entire affair, mentioned one enthusiastic visitor, was ‘identical to a coronation,’” Life reported.
On the eve of the civil rights motion, the union of the long run president and first woman portended the romanticized Camelot White Home period and likewise established Kennedy Onassis as an American fashion icon. Elizabeth Approach—affiliate curator at The Museum at FIT and writer of Black Designers in American Trend—explains photos of Kennedy Onassis on her marriage ceremony day had been “very extensively circulated,” together with the entrance web page of The New York Occasions. “This was even earlier than Jackie Kennedy had earned this status as this very fashion-forward first woman,” Approach says. “So the photographs of her marriage ceremony costume are arguably, nonetheless in the present day, this large vogue second for ladies.”
However in a universally relatable state of affairs, the bride’s future in-laws wielded authority over the massive day, together with the marriage costume. Simply returned from Paris, the socialite and neophyte journalist reportedly most well-liked a French designer, however the Kennedy patriarch and DC kingmaker, Joseph, insisted Kennedy Onassis put on an American model to ship a message of diplomacy. “There have been so many different stakeholders in addition to Jacqueline Bouvier and John F. Kennedy,” Approach says. “His household and her household—it was these dynasties coming collectively and creating this political American second.”
Jackie Kennedy’s marriage ceremony costume designer, Ann Lowe, was a sought-after dressmaker to elite East Coast households—just like the Rockefellers, Du Ponts, and Roosevelts—for bespoke bridal and debutante robes. Lowe additionally designed the nuptial costume of Kennedy Onassis’s mom, Janet Auchinchloss, in addition to the debutante confections of sister Lee and stepsister Nina Auchincloss. “She was an American couturier dressing among the most famous girls of her time,” says Neil Brown, CEO of Amsale, which he co-founded along with his late spouse, Amsale Aberra. The Ethiopian American bridal designer is well known for outlining the trendy American marriage ceremony costume, and the New York Metropolis–based mostly model continues creating alternatives for aspiring Black vogue designers by means of the Amsale Aspire initiative.
Lowe realized the craft of nineteenth century–fashion custom-dressmaking from her mom and previously enslaved grandmother, each of whom ran a enterprise collectively throughout Reconstruction within the Jim Crow–period South. Legend has it that Lowe took inspiration from a costume made by her mom for Kennedy Onassis’s marriage ceremony design.
The pristine pleating on the robe’s bodice, intricate scallop pin tucks, and complicated rosette elaborations with dainty wax orange blossoms nestled within the heart—all meticulously finished by hand—are logos of Lowe. “Flowers had been one thing she did over and over and over,” says Approach, emphasizing Lowe’s near-magical expertise in engineering elaborate 3D facets with monochrome white supplies. “She was simply actually nice at nearly sculpting the material and increase into three dimensions from a flat floor.”
Lowe’s experience continues by means of to the foundational building methods. “The way in which she constructed the within of her bodices was very intricate and structural. In the event you take a look at the within of an Ann Lowe piece, particularly from the ’50s and ’60s, it’s very distinctive,” Approach says concerning Lowe’s masterful optimization of match, draping, and luxury for the wearer.
Kennedy Onassis’s marriage ceremony costume, too delicate to exhibit, is presently preserved within the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. The Boston establishment supplied entry to the long-lasting marriage ceremony robe to College of Delaware professor and designer Katya Roelse for replicating the historic piece for an upcoming exhibition. “Ann Lowe, American Couturier” will run from September 9, 2023 to January 7, 2024 at Delaware’s Winterthur Museum Backyard and Library.
